


Not So Unfortunate Circumstances

by MeganMoonlight



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alien Planet, Banter, Emotions, Feelings, Getting Together, Hurt McCoy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Stranded, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 22:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7660147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganMoonlight/pseuds/MeganMoonlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a meeting with people from planet Miar-V, where possibilities of an alliance were discussed, McCoy and Spock end up stranded on the planet with no way to contact the Enterprise. Dealing with this situation was difficult... but it could have been worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Unfortunate Circumstances

He felt pain in his chest. Possibly bruised.

Moving his right arm hurt more. Either broken or sprained.

He heard someone talking to him, saying his name, but he couldn't focus enough to answer. He must have hit his head pretty badly. When? How? These were some excellent questions, weren’t they?

"Doctor McCoy."

Leonard opened his eyes slowly. Was he in some sort of a jungle? There must have been a river nearby, because he heard running water. He was thirsty. Blinking a couple of times, he tried to get used to the sunlight. It wasn't exactly easy, considering that whenever they were, there apparently were two suns. Which would explain why he felt hot. He turned his head to the right and identified the person he must have heard before.

Wonderful. Just wonderful. It was Spock who was kneeling next to him, keeping one hand on Leonard’s shoulder, as if to keep him from moving.

"Spock? What the... what the hell had happened?”

"Doctor, I believe you should refrain from moving, at least until we know more about your current condition."

"Thank you for the diagnosis, doctor. Where on Earth are we?"

"Judging by the flora, temperature of the air and color of the water, I assume we are still on Miar-V, however, I am not quite certain of our precise localization."

"That's... that’s not exactly what I wanted to hear," Leonard groaned as he tried to move his right arm and felt only sharp pain. Definitely sprained. At least it wasn’t broken. Resting and not making any sudden moves with it should be enough. The pain in his chest meant one or more of his ribs was cracked, or at least heavily bruised. He really hoped it was the second one. Just perfect. "Do you have any idea how we got here? Or where the others are?”

"We seem to be alone, except for a few curious species of what I presume are fowls," Spock answered, looking away from Leonard briefly to reach for something lying next to his head. "We do not have our communicators nor your tricorder, so we cannot contact the Enterprise. However, while you were unconscious I have gathered some tleeko fruits. They are of the same kind we were offered during the delegation."

"How come I seem to be the only one who is injured?"

He managed to sit up only after they established that he did indeed have a strained arm muscle and bruised ribs, but it was not as problematic as it seemed when he had woken up. Together they managed to wrap Leonard’s arm in large blue leaves, which seemed solid enough to elevate it. And a sling out of lianes Spock found nearby was much more steadier than he thought, too. Now if it only stopped hurting…

"I believe we should attempt to find a place where we will be safer."

"Unfortunately, I have a feeling you might be right, Mister Spock."

Walking through the jungle was even more tiring than lying on the ground, he realized after about an hour of walking, surrounded only by the heat and sounds made by the river. It was bothersome, but at least he had time to recall everything that had happened before he had lost consciousness.

Kri-Ta, the people living on Miar-V, were planning to form an alliance with the Federation and the leader, Arhi-li, had invited Jim to a feast to talk over the possibilities. Leonard and Spock were accompanied by Sulu, Yeoman Landon and Security Officer Hendorff. It was a big feast, which seemed to convince Jim that the Kri-Ta were serious about their plans. They were greeted, Arhi-li herself had offered to show them around the palace and the nearby village, answering all of Jim’s questions about politics and the leader’s plans towards the Federation and her expectations. Everything was going well until they left the palace a few hours later. Leonard remembered having hearing someone shouting when some sort of a fog appeared and then… nothing.

Leonard shook his head. It’ll all probably come back to him later, after he had rested and eaten something. He had no idea how long were they walking when suddenly he felt his head spinning. Reaching for the nearest tree for support, he tried to stay upward, when he felt Spock stepping closer to him right away. In the end Spock let Leonard lean against his side, so he could support his weight, as they continued to move forward. He'd known Spock long enough to know how strong the Vulcan was, but only when he was the one supported by this strength, he actually appreciated it. Not that he'd tell Spock that.

"Doctor McCoy..."

"I'm fine. Just need to catch a breath. We should find some sort of the cave before we get too hot," he said and moved away from Spock a little bit, wincing when he felt the pain in his arm increasing. "Let’s just hope Jim will be able to find us here. If we knew where we are at least..."

"We would still be not able to proceed without any equipment or knowledge of the local fauna and the dangers we might face."

"You're a ray of sunshine as always, Mister Spock," Leonard grumbled, and with a corner of one eye he caught Spock raising an eyebrow at him.

"I do not think it is a fortunate expression in this situation."

"Yes, well, I don't think the situation is fortunate, so I think I can say whatever I want."

"If you say so, Doctor."

They managed to find a cave. It wasn't very deep, but at least mostly hidden from view by dense bushes and was enough to protect them from the suns. They probably wouldn't have found it if Leonard hadn't stopped to eat a fruit and hadn't tried to lean against a tree that wasn't actually a tree. At least he hadn’t fallen on the ground. Small miracles.

They managed to find several more fruits, the only edible thing they were aware of. They had eaten them during the feast, and even if they were mildly sour and bitter, they weren’t awful. It had to be enough until they come up with some sort of a plan.

As they finally sat in the cave, Leonard sighed.

"Walkin’ around won't help much, will it."

"I might be able to find something we will recognize."

"Like trying to herd cats,” Leonard murmured. “You also might get even more lost. Or attacked. Or eaten," Leonard added, to which Spock raised one eyebrow. "Maybe if we try to get back to the place where we woke up."

For a moment Spock looked like he wanted to say something, but for some reason he refrained, which was actually more irritating than Leonard wanted to admit, but he stayed quiet. For now.

It would have been easier if he could just fix his arm and ribs, but sitting away from the sun has helped anyway. It was something. Yet, they still had to decide what to do. It was difficult not to be concerned.

***

Not counting being stuck without food, any form of communication with their ship, the lack of equipment to treat their injuries and the insufferable heat, Miar-V was actually quite beautiful. It was strange to observe all the trees and bushes knowing that there are no animals other than birds nearby. The almost complete silence surrounding them could be overpowering at times, especially when he and Spock weren’t talking, but Leonard tried not to think about it. The trees with blue leaves, big bushes of fruit he did not recognize and didn’t know anything about, now he wished he had looked at it on the computer first, or when they were in the palace.

For a while they were leaving the cave only briefly to find something to eat, which in the end proved to be more difficult than Leonard assumed. Not only was it not getting any colder, but also the fruits, tleeko, seemed to be very rare in this part of the jungle. Leonard had recalled Arhi-li mentioning something about it, as well as mentioning the fact that there weren’t many animals on the planet. Which was problematic, since during the time Leonard and Spock had spent walking, they hadn't encountered any other fruits or vegetables they recognized as edible. They had to survive with seven tleeko fruit they had gathered previously, but while they weren't small, they wouldn't last for long either.

They came back to the cave only when it became too hot to stay outside. At least they found water. Leonard was glad he actually ate during the feast, so he wasn’t hungry – it meant not much time had passed from the feast, which was comforting. While he was drinking he noticed Spock hadn’t touched the food as well. The Vulcan was sitting with his eyes closed, perfectly calm expression on his face, but there was something strange about his posture.

Leonard wanted to ask what was wrong, besides the obvious situation, but only when he looked closer he noticed something green on the rocks, right next to Spock's leg. He got up and walked closer. Damn it.

"Spock! You're bleeding!" Trying not to move his injured arm too much, Leonard knelt on the ground. "Why didn't you tell me? I asked if you're okay! If it's because of your Vulcan pride, you green-blooded menace..."

"It is merely a flesh wound, Doctor,” Spock replied calmly, and only then he opened his eyes to look at Leonard. “I looked at it before you woke up. Your own injuries are much more extensive."

"Yes, but we were walking for at least a few hours, Spock! If you had told me I'd go gather the fruits alone so you could let your leg recover," Leonard moved slightly, groaning, as he accidentally put more pressure on his ribs. "Talk to me. How bad is it?"

"As I already said, it is only a flesh wound. I had wrapped it after waking up. It does not bother me and does not affect my ability to move."

"Just wonderful. You do know you wrapped it with leaves without me looking at it first, right? We don't know if they were clean or if the wound was infected.”

"Doctor McCoy, I am not harmed. More importantly, I am stronger than you and we do not know what we might encounter, so we both should be able to walk."

"You’re more stubborn, too," Leonard replied, to which Spock raised one eyebrow. It looked like he wanted to comment on that, and Leonard decided not to say anything about it. "What if the wound is infected? I doubt we'd be able to go anywhere then. Let me see it."

Spock rolled up one trouser-leg, though Leonard clearly saw that he still thought it wasn't necessary. At least he wasn’t arguing about that.

Fortunately the wound did not look infected.

"It doesn't look bad, but I would very strongly advice to not overtax yourself, Mister Spock. Hopefully we'll find something to eat or find out where we are. Or Jim will find us. The heat is unbearable. Now I understand why the Kri-Ta wanted to meet us in the morning. Spending time on this planet is really difficult when there are two suns."

They had no idea how much time they actually had been on the planet. However, not knowing when the night would be, or how long the days were, they decided catching sleep whenever they could was the best option for them. And it was only logical for one to stand guard while the other slept.

Of course as soon as they decided on this, they argued who would take the first watch. Leonard was sure at least fifteen minutes was spent arguing, because the stubborn Vulcan did not seem to understand that the doctor was perfectly fine to take the first watch. In the end, they managed to agree that when they decide to get some sleep, (because he was not tired yet, damn it, Spock), Spock could take the first watch.

***

They encountered another problem after Leonard woke up from a nap, maybe a few hours later. There was only one tleeko fruit left. They hadn't managed to find any more of them and only after eating some, Leonard had realized that Spock has given him his share of the fruits. And he was now sitting quietly and meditating.

Leonard grabbed the last fruit and sat down next to Spock, handing it to him.

Spock opened his eyes to look at his outstretched hand briefly, before he closed them again. "Doctor, due to your injuries, I believe you should be the one to eat it."

"No can do, Mister Spock," he said, not moving his hand. "I know perfectly well how long you haven't eaten and you need the energy, too. Stop being stubborn and eat it. Doctor's orders."

This time when Spock opened his eyes, he took the fruit but he didn't start eating right away. He was staring at it, clearly contemplating something, and Leonard just leaned back against the wall, sighing. He had no idea how Spock could stay so calm. He had to take a nap to keep himself from pacing and over thinking their situation. It was irritating when they couldn’t even leave the damn cave.

"When we're back on the Enterprise, the first thing I'll do is get a steak. And coffee."

Leonard thought he saw a hint of a smile on Spock’s eyes at that, but it disappeared as soon as the Vulcan raised the fruit to his lips and took a small bite. Leonard tried not to stare at Spock’s lips.

He realized he almost said "if we're back." He shouldn't think like that. It would make him go crazy, he knew. He believed in Jim. His friend would do everything in his power, or even what was outside of it, to get him and Spock back, Leonard was sure of it. Jim always had a plan. Or at least vague ideas that worked out in the end. They just had to wait.

Closing his eyes, he sighed. Surprisingly, even if it was hot outside, he did not mind the heat radiating from Spock's body. His presence was… comforting.

They just had to wait.

***

Spending time together in such a small space proved to be difficult at times. They kept arguing over the smallest things. Twelve days on Miar-V, in the heat, sleeping irregularly, would do that. However, during this time, each of them had angrily stormed out of the cave so many times that they had became quite familiar with the area. They still had stayed mostly in the cave, but one day they came back to the place where they woke up, but without any luck at finding out more about their situation. They still couldn’t contact Jim or the Enterprise, doesn't matter how much they tried to find anything that could work. And they had no idea what had happened to Sulu, Herndorff and Landon.

At least his arm was not bothering him as much anymore, and since they actually weren’t moving much when it was too hot to be outside of the cave, he managed not to put much pressure on his ribs. His injuries still bothered him when he was moving too much during sleep, but other than that, it really wasn’t as bad.

However, because the fact that there was not much to do, the twelfth day ended up being a great time to apparently talk about feelings. As much as Leonard tried to avoid it, Spock of course had to bring it up.

"Doctor McCoy, during our… stay here, I have noticed on numerous occasions that my presence makes you uncomfortable."

Spock noticed, obviously.

"Nonsense, Mister Spock." He had really hoped they wouldn't have to talk about it. He wasn't uncomfortable. He actually made sure not to let himself act any different around the Vulcan. Yes, he caught himself looking at Spock’s chest when they were both too hot and had to take their shirts off, maybe more than once, but he had really hoped Spock hadn’t noticed. And considering the fact that the Vulcan probably remembered the time he had walked in on Leonard and Jim talking about Leonard’s feelings for Spock, he lost hope that they will not mention any of it after all. Damn it, why did he have to talk to Jim about it right then? Damn Jim for bringing him scotch.

He laid on the ground, facing the cold wall, but even if it was relatively quiet around them, Leonard still didn’t hear Spock stepping closer to him. The Vulcan was kneeling next to him, but still keeping a certain distance, for which Leonard was grateful.

"Doctor, I have approached Jim and asked him about your feelings."

"You did what?" Sitting up slowly, he turned to look at the Vulcan. He really had no idea how much Spock had heard. Had Jim told him something?

"The only thing he had told me was to talk to you, that he should not be the one telling me anything. However, the smile on his face when he said it was more than unsettling."

Leonard snorted. "I just bet it was."

The silence that followed was... tense. Spock seemed to drop the subject, but now that they finally started to talk he could as well tell him everything. What else could he do? It looked like neither of them was going anywhere anytime soon.

"You know damn well what I told Jim. You're not stupid, Spock."

Spock looked right into his eyes right then, and even if he knew it wasn’t the case, it felt like he could see everything that was going through Leonard’s mind. The mix of feelings that were driving him insane. Still, there was something in the way the Vulcan was looking at him right then. With curiosity? Determination? Both?

"Well, Mister Spock?"

Leonard swallowed waiting for a reply, but when none came he looked down, shaking his head. Of course. He should have known. What did he even expect?

He wanted to stand up and leave. He needed air. Or maybe just to leave the damn cave, so he could stay alone, away from Spock. When he did move, however, a hand caught his healthy wrist. Spock’s hold was not tight, but sure and he was not pulling, so that he didn't put pressure on Leonard’s arm or ribs.

"I was not aware of your... interest, at first," Spock finally admitted. Leonard considered briefly what to do before he sat back again, but not looking at the Vulcan. “On many occasions Jim had made sure to mention our... bickering. He said it reminds him of human couples."

Leonard did hear Jim say that, too, but where was Spock going with this? "Spock, if you’re not interested, just say so, so we can move on and I can go search for some food. I've been through this before, so you won't hurt my feelings or anythin’. That is exactly what I told Jim anyway. How about we just forget about it and focus on finding something to eat. We could..."

"Doctor," Spock interrupted him, squeezing his wrist gently. His fingers were warm against Leonard’s skin. It was soothing, and reassuring, and nothing like Leonard expected. "You were wrong. As usual, I might add."

"What?"

"You were wrong about what you have told Jim. I am not uninterested."

"Wait just a second, are you sayin’..."

"I am saying, Doctor, that I would be amenable to a relationship with you, if you wish to."

Leonard blinked a couple of times. What? Why now? Why now that they were on this damn planet?

"Spock, if it's only because we're stuck down here together..."

"Doctor, while you quite often do prove yourself to be impulsive and stubborn..."

"Well, thank you for that."

"…I do believe you know that our current situation does not influence my feelings towards you. I find you quite as illogical as I did before. Yet, I also find you intriguing," Spock let go of his wrist, but did not look away. "Is it not the answer you wished to hear?"

Leonard closed his eyes for a while and leaned against the wall heavily.

"No, no it ain’t that. Well, not really," he replied after a while, opening his eyes again. Spock looked curiously at him, as he waited, most likely for Leonard to gather his thoughts. "We might be stuck here for a while, Spock. Jim will find a way to get us back, I know that, but how long will it take? I don't want to start anything like this."

"I see." It seemed to be the end of the subject, yet, Spock did not move his hand away from Leonard's. They just sat there in silence, but only after a while later Leonard risked glancing at their hands. Slowly he moved his closer to Spock's, so that their fingers were touching gently. Of course he knew the significance of touching hands with a Vulcan. Spock was looking at their hands, too.

They didn't talk about anything else then. They didn't have to. They moved only later, he wasn't sure how much time have passed exactly, when they left the cave to search for more food.

Spock though they should try searching on the other side of the waterfall they found, while Leonard wanted to keep searching on their side of the river, just move further away from the cave. In the end they went separate ways.

When Leonard came back, bringing about a dozen of fruits, Spock still wasn’t back. Leonard put the fruits on dry leaves they gathered earlier and left the cave to look around. What if something had happened? Should he have gone with Spock? He thought about going on the other side of the waterfall, too, but in the end he had found the food near the cave anyway. Damn it, they shouldn't have gone separate ways. It always ended badly. And they didn't have any way to contact each other...

He shook his head. It was Spock. He would be fine. He would have to wait for him and later think about the rest, trying to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his mind that he should have gone with Spock.

***

"Damn it, Spock, where have you been?"

"I have found two shrubs of tleeko."

"How nice for you. And you couldn't have came back and told me about it? You wouldn't have been able to contact me if something had happened!"

"Leonard, we should go and gather the rest of the fruit and come back here. It is getting dark."

"We’ll get some sleep when we get back."

"I will take the first shift."

"Yes, you better do that."

***

Seventeen days have passed, according to Spock's calculations.

They were... difficult. It was the best word he could use for their situation. Some people say that if you spend some time somewhere, you get used to being there, it didn't work in this case.

Leonard was tired, uncomfortable and... he felt lost. He hated it. He hated the damn planet, this cave, the fruits and if it weren't for Spock, he was sure he would have gone crazy. He wasn't sure how much the Vulcan was affected by all this, but it was obvious he was still thinking about a way to get them out of there.

On the seventeenth day, when Leonard woke up, he slowly sat up from where he was leaning against Spock. He didn't even remember falling asleep. For a while he wanted to lay his head on Spock’s shoulder again, to close his eyes and just forget everything, but he resisted the urge.

"When was the last time you’ve eaten?" he asked as he stood up, walking towards their stack of fruit and grabbing two, one for himself and one for Spock. He guessed the Vulcan didn't move to get something to eat because he didn’t want to wake him up.

"You were tired and needed sleep."

"Right. Which means you haven’t," he sat down again, handing Spock one tleeko fruit. "It's still early, so we could go get something to drink. Unless you’re tired and want to catch some sleep. But I'm not going anywhere later. It’s hotter than hell’s pepper patch here. I really don't understand how anyone can live here," he took a large bite of the fruit, cherishing the taste of slightly sour juice on his tongue, while Spock was just looking at him. Right. Of course. Spock was used to this temperature. "Where do you think Jim is? Because if all of this is the Arhi-Li's doing, I doubt any treaties would work."

"I do not believe the leader is responsible for what has happened."

"Yes, or she was pretending to be nice very well."

He had no idea why he said it in the first place. They have been over this twice before, it was one of numerous things they had argued about, but it was difficult not to bring it up again. Spock must have realized what he was thinking, so he just changed the subject.

"I believe we should try to check the rocks and the wall today."

"At least it's not too hot to try."

***

They took a couple of tleeko fruits and went to the jungle. The rocks were actually a big hill, which wasn’t steep, but it was high. There was a good chance they could probably see something more from there. His arm was better already and so was Spock's leg, so maybe they could attempt climbing, at least a little bit. First though, they had to go for at least half an hour to get there.

Leonard wanted to take a break to drink something, so they went to the river, and it was when he heard strange clicking. Quiet, but definitely familiar. As if on instinct he grabbed Spock's wrist. He was looking in the same direction, so he must have heard it, too.

"I didn't imagine it, did I. It was a communicator. Come on."

"We should stay quiet. We do not know if it is someone from our crew, and it could be as well someone who took our equipment."

"Yes, but it could be Jim, too! Or Sulu and the rest. They could need our help, Spock."

"Leonard..."

"I’m going. I don't want to stay here any longer."

After a while Spock nodded. They moved forward, quietly, so that they could listen to any other sounds, any sign that the crew was there.

They didn't hear the communicator again, but they kept walking anyway. It was only when Spock put a hand on Leonard's shoulder, squeezing gently, when they heard someone walking near them. A red, then a gold material flashed between the trees, and not just any random one either.

Leonard was the first to move, but Spock was right behind him, and before they reached the person walking before them, they heard a familiar voice calling them, one they both missed, and hoped to hear for a long time now.

"Bones! Spock!"

"Jim!"

As soon as Jim walked closer to them, Leonard wrapped his arms around him in an embrace, sighing in relief, as Jim did the same. As he moved back, Jim put one hand on Spock's shoulder and he could clearly see the relief on his friend's face when Spock nodded at him. They were all relieved.

“What took you so long?” Leonard asked right away, not taking his eyes off Jim. “Do you know what happened? What about Sulu, Hendorff and Landon? We couldn't find them anywhere."

"They're safe on the Enterprise,” Jim assured him. “Hendorff came with me, he should be somewhere here, and two Kri-Ta warriors to find you. After we realized what had happened I contacted Arhi-Li to help us find you. This jungle is big and we needed someone who knows how to move around here so we could search for your tracks," Jim put a hand on Spock's shoulder and looked at Leonard. "Come on, let's get you to the Enterprise so M'Benga can look at you. You can tell me the rest later."

"I can’t wait to get out of here. I will talk only after I've showered and eaten something," Leonard sighed. His bed and a big steak did sound wonderful.

"I have to agree with Doctor McCoy," Spock added.

Jim blinked, surprised, but a small smile appeared on his face, and Leonard tried not to analyze it much.

"Looks like something good came out of visiting this planet after all."

Leonard rolled his eyes at Jim while Spock just raised one eyebrow in question. They contacted Hendorff and Jim touched his communicator.

"Five to beam up, Mister Scott."

***

Looked like the Kri-Ta really did not know anything about what had happened to them. As soon as they had been out of the palace they had been attacked by a hostile tribe Kri-Ta was fighting with. The tribe assumed they could kidnap the people, but as soon as they realized they haven’t caught the Kri-Ta, Leonard, Spock and the rest were left alone in the jungle, without any technology, for the tribe's safety. The injuries happened because the tribe was not known for being gentle.

Jim, with the help of Arhi-Li’s warriors, went to capture the people responsible for the kidnapping and started to search for the team as soon as they could. They had found Sulu, Hendorff and Landon rather quickly, because fortunately they were left by the warriors close to the palace. Leonard and Spock had not had that much luck. The jungle was big, covering about fifty per cent of the planet, so it had taken some time to find them.

But now they were back. The talks of an alliance were still on-going, and Leonard and Spock made their reports and talked to Jim. Now that his injuries were fully healed, fortunately everything had healed well, Leonard felt much better. After five days he was still tired and it looked like the changes in his sleep and eating patterns will be more difficult to readjust, but at least he could use his own bed again.

As he left his quarters and went to the bridge, he met Sulu, Hendorff and Landon on the way. They were talking quietly, but stopped when they saw him, and nodded in greeting.

“Doctor McCoy, it's good to have you back," Landon said, smiling.

“I’m glad to be back, too.”

“The Captain is already planning to contact the Kri-Ta again. I don’t know about you, but I’ll definitely remember staying on this planet,” Hendorff said and Sulu just shrugged, looking thoughtful.

“They seemed to feel bad about what has happened. I just hope that they and the Mahii will be able to work together somehow.”

Yes, Leonard hoped that, too. It was difficult not to, when the Kri-Ta delegation has visited the Enterprise to send their apologies for the inconvenience they had suffered on the planet.

The meeting was once again very official. Since Arhi-Li could not visit, as the leader she was preoccupied with the Mahii tribe situation, she has sent her two advisers and three guards to the Enterprise to present them with a gift as an apology. They had received two crates of tleeko fruits, which apparently were the Kri-Ta’s favorite food, and were popular also on planets surrounding Miar-V. They were a significant part of their economy, too, as they were the main exported trade good, which Leonard did not know. It was a surprise to him. The advisers had once again apologized for the situations and promised the leader would resolve the situation with the Mahii, and will keep the Federation informed of the proceedings.

After the Kri-Ta left Leonard came back to his quarters. He probably wouldn't be able to look at the tleeko fruits anytime soon, but other members of the crew seemed to be curious about them. He just really hoped that there won’t be a need for any planet-side missions anytime soon.

After Leonard left Sulu, Landon and Hendorff, he went to the bridge. When the door opened, Jim and Spock were discussing the message they have received from Starfleet concerning the Kri-ta, while Uhura and Chekov were observing them quietly.

“Any news?” Leonard asked as he stepped closer to the Captain’s chair.

Jim looked up from the computer he was standing next to. “Shouldn’t you be resting, Bones?”

Leonard felt the need to sigh, but he refrained. Jim, along with Spock, M’Benga and Chapel, insisted that Leonard should take a few days off, and managed to mention it every day since they came back. Of course he had reminded them all that he knew what he was doing and the majority of his injuries were already healed. The rest he would just sleep off, but it wasn’t anything serious. Of course Jim tried to trick him into taking a day off, but Leonard knew how that worked. He knew the man too well.

“Jim, I know what I’m doing. I am a doctor. Tell me, do you listen to me when I tell you to rest after you come back from missions?” he asked and saw a hint of amusement appear on Spock’s face at that. Leonard got surprisingly good at reading Spock’s expressions. “You know how the majority of your off-ship missions go.”

“Well, I am the Captain, Bones. Anyway,” Jim smiled, sitting on his chair and turning to look at Spock, the corner of his lips turning up in a half-smile. “Mister Spock, I believe your shift has ended precisely forty seven seconds ago.”

“You are correct, Captain.”

“Since Doctor McCoy will be going to his quarters right now...”

“Really, Jim? Have you been listening to what I just told you? I have job to do.”

“… maybe you can make sure he gets there.”

Of course Jim totally ignored him, and probably found it all amusing, too. He knew what had happened between Leonard and Spock on the planet. Leonard didn’t hide anything from his friend, and neither did Spock. However, since he found out, Jim considered it his mission to get them to talk. Well, it was not like they were avoiding it, not really. More like Leonard wasn’t sure how to proceed, what to say, how to start this conversation. They were back on the ship and they still had to think about everything that had happened. And now that they were back, there was a possibility Spock changed his mind about them, their situation had changed after all. And Leonard had to admit, he was concerned, too. For him the feelings towards Spock weren’t new, but he had been ignoring them for a long time.

But now that they were walking alongside each other quietly, Leonard from time to time looking at Spock, he had no idea what to expect or what to say. Spock did walk him to his quarters, but he did not leave after, as Leonard expected him to do.

“Leonard, I believe we should talk,” he said calmly, his hands behind his back, as always.

Leonard sighed quietly. Right. “Come on in.”

As soon as the doors closed, Leonard sat on his bed, and Spock did the same. They were close, Leonard could touch Spock’s hand if he wanted to, but he didn’t. Not yet.

“Have you changed your mind about pursuing a relationship?” Spock asked, looking into his eyes. “On the planet you have mentioned that it would have been better if we were on the Enterprise. It was a logical decision. Since we came back, however, you have been avoiding me.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you, Spock,” Leonard replied. “I was just… thinking, I guess. I take it that you haven’t changed your mind about that after all?”

“I have not,” Spock said and Leonard saw him raise one hand slowly. He reached towards him and Leonard could have moved away if he wanted to, but he stayed in place. He could feel the warmth of Spock’s skin through the material of his shirt, and only then he reached to touch Spock’s cheek gently, caressing the skin. When their lips finally met, it felt… natural. Nothing like Leonard had thought. When Spock didn’t move back, Leonard deepened the kiss, bringing Spock closer to him.  
“We’re really doing this, then?” Leonard asked as he broke the kiss, moving away only enough to look him in the eyes.

“That is what I hope as well.”

“Good,” he murmured against Spock’s lips, kissing him again.

Looked like he couldn’t really complain about being stuck on a strange planet anymore, after all. At least they didn’t have to talk to their commanding officer about the change of their relationship.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **[HM-F](http://hm-f.livejournal.com/)** as a part of the **[Happy-Trekmas 2015](http://happy-trekmas.livejournal.com/)** exchange. I decided to re-post it here to keep my fics in one place.
> 
> I decided to go with the "stranded on a planet together" plotline that was mentioned in the form, but with a small twist. I hope you will enjoy the fic. Happy Holidays!
> 
> Thanks for beta to **[lil-1337](http://lil-1337.livejournal.com/)**
> 
> Originally posted: **[*HERE*](http://happy-trekmas.livejournal.com/74965.html)**


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